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Youth center project back on track

After months of delays, work can now begin on a new Youth Empowerment Center for the Maury County Boys and Girls Club.

The project — primarily funded with a $300,000 grant from a 2009 Small Cities Community Development Block Grant — has been prolonged since last December because bids to construct the facility exceeded the amount of the grant. But a $23,000 donation from the Advent Community Development Corporation this month put the costs of construction within the city’s grasp.

Members of the Columbia City Council Thursday accepted the donation from the corporation and authorized the project’s contractor, HP Construction Management out of Woodbury, Tenn., to begin the renovating the Wayne Street site.

Trent Ogilvie, executive director of Advent Community Development, said the site will also house Maury County HeadStart, a federally funded pre-kindergarten program, in a portion of the 18,000 square-foot building. The renovation of the site will expand the Boys and Girls Club’s operations to allow for 200 more children to be served at the Wayne Street facility, a “positive addition for the city of Columbia,” he said.

“We are very appreciative of this donation,” Ward 3 Councilwoman Christa Martin said Thursday. “This is making sure that there’s going to be a major project for the youth of Columbia.”

Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club John Stephens said the purpose of the new location is to expand the club’s service to more Maury County children. Currently, he said the club serves between 140 and 150 children on a daily basis. With two locations, the hope is the club could serve more than 300 children each day.

“We want to serve more kids because the kids who come here are going to be better citizens,” Stephens said Friday. “We know what we do works. We want to work this magic on more kids than we are now. The good news is we’re serving 140 kids a day — the bad news is we’re only serving 140 kids a day.”

Now that the city council has given its blessing to the project, it will be resubmitted to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for review. Assuming the state approves the project, renovations at 209 Wayne St. will begin in October. The renovations are expected to take four months to complete.

The council also approved without discussion Thursday:

◆ a consent agenda including a $17,744 back payment to former police chief Joseph Bishop, worker’s compensation and property insurance renewals with the Tennessee Municipal League, life and long-term disability insurance from Lincoln National Life Insurance and a renewal of an annual subscription to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s National Crime Information Center;

◆ acceptance of a $25,550 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to split with the Maury County Sheriff’s Department. The agencies will purchase in-car video systems with the funds;

◆ the intent to issue general obligation bonds to purchase new radios for the city’s police and fire departments;

◆ acceptance of new fitness equipment for the Armory Recreation Center, donated by the United Auto Workers Union Local 1853;

◆ second consideration of the classification and compensation plan for city employees;

◆ first consideration of an ordinance providing for a ban on the ignition of fireworks during a burn ban.